The Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet make a fantastic return to form this year through the release of their latest project for Saponegro Records, 'El Muki'.
Spearheaded by trumpeter and band leader Gabriel Alegría, the Afro-Peruvian Sextet are rounded out by saxophonists Laura Andrea Leguía and JF Maza, drummer Hugo Alcázar, bassist Mario Cuba, percussionist Freddy "Huevito" Lobatón and guitarist Jocho Velásquez.
One of the most prominent revelations about Gabriel Alegría along with the Afro-Peruvian Sextet is the care and devotion that surrounds each member of the band and their subsequent passion towards their craft. Spending time with any of the Sextet's past nine releases to date - a fact that is particularly evident with 'El Muki' - goes hand-in-hand with the level of responsibility that each of the band's members accept as a participant of the musical collective.
The Afro-Peruvian Sextet are in essence sound architects; they are guardians of culture and pioneers of untamed musical expression, and there's undoubtedly a large dose of responsibility that comes along with that as a member of the band. Gabriel Alegría has long strived towards an unhindered vision of the Sextet's music - one that presents an enthralling musical melting pot of contemporary jazz sensibilities alongside Afro-Latino inspiration and a New York aesthetic that teems with improvisational spontaneity.
Much of Alegría's latest project is rooted within the mythology attached to the "muki". A character attached to Peruvian and Colombian lore, the muki resembles that of a goblin and intriguingly straddles a thin line between vengefulness and morality. The former presents a merciless creature who punishes the deceitful while the more romanticised depiction presents a character more fiercely loyal to tradition and to its more sacred environment.
While esteemed artist Jesús Ruiz Durand explores those concepts for the album's exceptional album cover, it is for Alegría and company to interpret those philosophies in a musical context balancing those fiercely loyal tendencies and presenting themselves as trailblazers of a cultural and sonic frontier in the process. And while waving the flag for Peruvian heritage is a deftly pivotal concept for the Afro-Peruvian Sextet, ensuring that the purity or artistic and musical traditions are adhered to as well in the face of changing evolving times. It's no secret the world is entering into a new age in many technological contexts with the human experience towards the culture on the verge of being reduced to simply that of a consumer over that of creators. While Peruvian traditions are very much at the core of 'El Muki', the potential loss of artistic ones very much are as well.
With 'El Muki', the Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet reaffirm their role as cultural custodians and creative pioneers. This album isn't just a return to form — it's a resounding statement that innovation and heritage can co-exist generating blissful results.
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